Police wrongfully impounded vehicle as driver did not carry his driving licence with him!

Our client was stopped by the police in April 2010 whilst driving his car. The police officer did not believe our client when he said he had a valid driving licence. Our client telephoned his girlfriend to bring the licence from home to show the officer, but he would not wait: he issued a slip to produce the documents, and he arranged for the car to be towed away!

When our client took the documents to the police station as required, the sergeant agreed that the officer should not have impounded the vehicle as all the documents were in order. Unfortunately however, the garage where the car had been impounded would not release the vehicle without payment of a fee of £150. After the threat of legal action against the police, they did eventually refund the £150 to our client.

His frustrations were compounded further because he was summonsed to court  in August for driving on this same occasion not in accordance with a driving licence. When the case came to court the prosecution withdrew the charge and the court ordered that the defence costs be paid from central funds.